Conventional agricultural seeders are often employed to deposit planting material into soil. Many seeders include a material dispensing implement that is towed behind a tractor or similar vehicle for distributing planting material, such as seed, fertilizer, pesticide, and other chemicals and materials, onto a furrowed farmland or similar planting surface. The implement may consist of multiple dispensing units or opener units that are supported by a common or shared frame that is towed by the tractor.
Agricultural seeders may include one or more ground engaging tools or openers that form a seeding path for planting material deposition into the soil. The openers are used to break the soil to enable seed deposition. After the planting material is deposited, each opener is followed by a packer wheel that packs the soil on top of the deposited material. Seeders commonly use pneumatic systems to transport planting material from a storage hopper to the soil to be deposited. Typically, air flow is provided through tubes or distribution lines to transport product therethrough.
In certain configurations, an air cart is used to meter and transport the planting material (e.g., seeds, fertilizer, etc.) to ground engaging tools within the seeding implement. The air cart may include a hopper having one or more compartments configured for holding various planting material. Certain air carts include a metering system configured to deliver metered quantities of material into a tube or distribution line that transfers the material to the openers. The metering system will control distribution from the one or more compartments of the hopper to distribution lines such that each compartment provides planting material at a desired rate. Typically, an air cart includes a single large fan powered by a single motor, which supplies air flow to all distribution lines for pneumatic delivery of the planting material therethrough. From the distribution lines, an flow is diverted into primary distribution manifolds that then teed secondary distribution lines, which then deliver the planting material toward individual openers and row units of a drill.
To provide consistent delivery rates across the drill, distribution lines are typically the same length, regardless of the distance between the row units they feed and its corresponding feeding header or the air cart. Common lengths of distribution lines to provide flow consistency by keeping pressure the same in the different distribution lines. This can lead to excessively long distribution lines feeding rows that are closer to the headers or air cart, which can clutter the drill with hoses, increase manufacturing costs and increase setup time.
Using a single fan to supply air to multiple distribution lines may be limiting with respect to controlling the distribution of various planting material to different opener units. As will be appreciated, it may be desirable to variably control the air flow to individual distribution lines so that the speed of delivery to different opener units may be varied. It may also be desirable to variably control the metering units to individual distribution lines so that the amount of product to different opener units may be varied. Therefore, it is desired to provide an air cart with each distribution line having its own dedicated fan, meter wheel, and motor so that the speed and volume of product supplied can be variably controlled in each distribution line.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide an agricultural air cart assembly with individually controlled product distribution lines.
It is a further object and feature of the invention to provide an agricultural air cart assembly with individually controlled product distribution lines wherein each distribution line is part of a self-contained unit.
It is a still further object and feature of the invention to provide an agricultural air cart assembly wherein the excess lines used on the air cart is minimized.